Ghana Together works with our Ghanaian friends of Western Heritage Home, a Ghanaian-registered and managed non-profit, to improve social, educational, and health conditions in Axim, Ghana. Together we accomplish projects, connect WHH to resourceful individuals and organizations, and create sustainable programs. We make a real difference to real people in a local, grassroots effort.
Our website at http://ghanatogether.org tells our story.

Oct 31, 2015

Happy Halloween! A perfect day to inquire about that Jerome Chandler Science Room
at AGSHS you’ve heard so much about …perfect, because one of this year’s
additions is just so darned appropriate to highlight TODAY OF ALL DAYS!!!

Plus, on our recent visit to Axim, we had firm instructions from Jerome
to learn all we could about what’s happening to his precious Science
Room!

They were moving the Science Room to the new classroom building, and classes hadn’t begun, but we talked with the teachers, and this week --about a month into the school term -- we received photos via the magic of “Whatsapp.”

A scientifically accurate 1/2 size plastic human skeleton

Science teachers opening the skeleton. Dept. Head Eric Jim is second from the left. The five AGSHS science teachers – integrated science, chemistry, biology, physics, and agriculture – use the Science Room about once/week or as needed for practicums.

What the heck????

Three junior high schools – Life International, Morning
Star, and Catholic Government School – regularly send students to the Science
Room for practicums. Akyimen-Brawere JHS
has asked to join occasionally. Ahlesunna has been invited and hopefully will
accept. All of these schools are within walking distance---within about 30-45
minutes. Teacher Jim schedules these schools for end of the day, so students can walk straight home after the practicums.

If you want to know what they're looking at, call Jerome!!

In addition, during the one-month school holidays in 2015,
science vacation classes were held every day for junior high students.

This year, thanks to our ever-generous science fans back home
in America, we supplied a scientifically accurate human skeleton, and also a little more than $1000 worth of chemicals, dry cell batteries, dessicator, and teeth and jaws of
sheep and dog (!).

We thank Evans Arloo, Western Heritage Home Operations
Manager, who traveled via tro-tro the nearly 300 km to Kumasi to purchase these
supplies from the same business that supplies the science department and
medical school at Kwame Nkrumah Science and Technology University.

The AGSHS Science Room is equipped with both computer and
overhead projectors, tables, stools, shelving, 50 scientific calculators, numerous posters,
stethoscopes, and all the materials
needed to support hands-on teaching of the JHS/SHS Ghana Education Science
curriculum.

Jerome also wrote a definitive manual of experiments to
demonstrate all the major concepts in the curriculum (reviewed by Rich Ward,
who pretended to be a junior high student!). We bring Science News Magazines, for the science teachers, who have few
intellectual resources. (Hint: if you subscribe to a science-oriented magazine,
we can help recycle your back issues!)

We thank AGSHS Science Dept Head & Teacher Mr. Eric Jim who has
worked with us from the beginning, and also Headmistress Theodora Appiah, who
well understands the importance of science education (and happens to be married
to a university chemistry professor!).

Madame Theodora took leadership of AGSHS in
January 2015, and she, Eric, and the teachers have put the science program into
high gear! It's been fun to help them with their goals! And so we thank YOU, dear Reader!

Oct 21, 2015

Four of us went to Ghana in September of
2015. The group consisted of Maryanne
Ward, Susan Hirst, Louise Wilkinson and her 18 year-old granddaughter,
Alexis. All of us but Alexis had been to
Ghana before. We have written about the Leadership
Workshops we did. This is about the
experiences and fun we had there as tourists! We recommend it!!

Alexis, Susan Hirst, Maryanne Ward, and Louise Wilkinson

Ghana is, as usual, friendly, colorful, and
chaotic. Because of the Ebola epidemic
in West Africa, there were very few visitors in Ghana last year. Although Ebola never reached Ghana, it still
is influencing tourism this year, we were told. We
were almost the only people in the hotels where we stayed in both Accra and
Axim. Perhaps that’s why internet was unavailable
which made contact with families at home much more difficult.

Axim Beach Hotel with its wonderful ocean view and clean beach. It's a bit rough for swimming, but perfect for walking, enjoyiing sunsets, and just overall sheer beauty.

However, there has been a tremendous
improvement in the main road from Accra to Axim. Those bumps and potholes are mostly a thing
of the past and the travel time has been cut almost by half! But the dirt roads in Axim have not improved
and getting to the Axim Beach Hotel (with its beautiful beach and comfortable
thatched-roof huts) was always a wildly bumpy adventure. So was the beach road
we took to the Ankroba Beach Hotel. We
were stopped by young men pulling in a long net - a boat’s catch, and Alexis
was able to help them.

Pull, Lexy, pull!! The guys certainly appreciated the "help" of their American friend who just happpened on the scene as we drove the coast road from Axim to Ankobra. Fun!!

We went to a Kundum festival in Nsein, a
neighboring village. It was much smaller
than the Kundum in Axim but the procession and dancing were again
wonderful. The chief was carried on a
palanquin on the heads of four men who were all dancing, and Alexis caught the
attention of numerous handsome young men.

Nsein Villagers marching to their Kundum Festival. Can you hear the drums?

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The "Dignity Ladies" dancing in their colorful blue hats and beautiful dresses.The theme of the festival was "Women Empowerment"

Finally the Chief arrives in his palanquin, to the acclaim of his people, and with a small royal princess leading the way before him. We were honored to be invited to a private meeting with the Chief, just prior to the start of the festivities.

The slave castle in Axim is 500 years old, as
of this very year—2015! We took a tour
there and learned about a hidden tunnel to the island of slave embarkation and
about the commandant who fell to his death while watching the ocean for the
ship carrying his fiancée into port. Involvement in the slave trade makes the
castle a depressing place, but there are terrific views of Axim town and the
colorful fleet of boats.

The slave castle in Axim, built by the Portuguese in 1515, owned also by both the Dutch and the British, over its long history, and looking today much as it did then. We've been told the Dutch Embassy sees to its painting every so often.

Sunday we dressed for church and walked
through Apewosika, the east end of town extending from the hillside down to the
sea. The hill is lined with wood and
corrugated steel huts, many fish smokers, and women, children, chickens and
goats. The children and some adults were
greeting us with “obroni” meaning “white person,” and “Hello how are you I am
fine” in one string of words.

Typical Axim street scene while walking from the hotel to church

Mostly people are friendly, welcoming. Few "obronis" visit Axim, especially in the town center. T

The Methodist Church was full of women
dressed in bright print dresses and colorful headdresses or carefully done hair
with weaves. The men look stunning in
white or colorful shirts and pants and often wear shoes with long points. We tried to slip into the church but were
spotted (we do stand out) and ushered to the front and after the sermon,
Maryanne was called upon to speak. She
is well-known here since she comes every year.
She did a great job of speaking and pointing out people in the congregation
who had helped with many of our education and sanitation efforts in town. Then the best part – the offering. Row by row people danced to the front of the
church to put their offerings in the basket.
There is such joy in the dancing.
Of course when it was our turn we joined them – but we can’t move like
they can despite the compelling music.

We were invited to the King Awulae’s home for
dinner. We were ushered into a dark
living room with huge leather couches and a massive TV which was turned on for
our entertainment, showing what must have been a Nigerian soap opera. After a time we were invited to a table and
served a wonderful fish soup with rice.
During this time Awulae had spoken to us only briefly which, it turns
out, is customary here.

Louise and Paramount Chief "King" Awulae Attibruskusi at her home near Seattle in 2011. He is the hereditary chief of Lower Axim and manages land and resources from Axim to Ivory Coast on behalf of his people. We were honored to have him in our midst here in NW Washington after his business trip to California. He serves on the Ghana National Petroleum Council, and in the past few months has launched a Foundation to support needy students.

However after dinner we had an interesting
conversation with King Awulae and Mr. Bentil, a Ghanaian and a good friend of
ours. Awulae spoke vehemently against
President Obama visiting and saying that Ghana and other African nations should
legalize gay marriage. It is very much
against their culture and the law. He
spoke positively about women leaders and thinks they are not as corruptible as
men. However, when they are corrupted,
they can do more damage because people have trusted them. The corruption of 30
plus justices in their court has been the big public topic of discussion here. That is only about 10% of the justices, but
Awulae is outraged that they could be corrupt when they are the keepers of
justice for the people. The head of
their court of justice is a woman. He
didn’t seem to be blaming her, although he said she should take responsibility.

We spent time visiting the children formerly
in the Heritage Home, catching up with them and seeing how they’d grown. Some are at Nsein High School and others at
Manye Academy. It was wonderful to see
how lovely and smart they had become. We
took toys to a preschool, and visited the Apewosika elementary school where
Ghana Together is sponsoring a number of students. The children were full of
energy and joy, fascinated to see these white foreigners, and swamped the
delighted Alexis.

Philo, Peter, and Charlotte---our WHH senior high scholars. They sent a message that they needed scientific calculators for their classes, which we brought for them. They are thriving at Nsein SHS.

We are proud of Kingsley, who just graduated junior high, and received a scientific calculator to celebrate! Kingsley will attend a school for welding and fabrication, and maybe some automotive mechanics training. Ernestina also graduated JHS, but was with extended family in Accra during our visit. She also received a calculator as her graduation gift.

Some of the WHH Scholars with their mentor, Evans Arloo. They attend Manye Academy, and live in the dormitory there.

Lexy with students from Apewosika Village School. Ghana Together provides tuition for 50 students from this very impoverished neighborhood. The extended family must provide uniforms, shoes, underwear, exercise book, and pencil.

Lexy and Maryanne show the new learning materials to children at the Anglican Creche in Axim. The materials are a gift from Crossroads Preschool in Burlington, WA---THANKS!!!

We visited the Axim Library with Mercy Ackah,
the former Axim librarian who is now head of the region for the Ghana Library
Authority. We have been sending books
for the last several years to the Axim Library and it seems to be the only one of
her five with any significant holding. While we were in Axim, 16 more boxes of books (about 2000 volumes) arrived, given by Americans, to the library. Thank you!!

We hung a picture of Tom Castor, Louise’s late husband, in the One
Laptop Per Child computer room to honor his work renovating the small computers
and lovingly teaching the children of Axim how to use them.

On our last night in Axim we went to a lovely
resort at the end of the point east of Axim, Lou Moon. We were able to swim there (the lovely beach
at the Axim Beach Hotel has an undertow and so swimming is not safe). We watched a spectacular sunset and had
dinner there.

Sunset with fishing canoes at Lou Moon Hotel/Restaurant---Wow!!

We met Gifty Baaba Asmah in Takoradi for
lunch. She is still working hard to
improve Ghanaian life through her non-profit.
She is currently collaborating with the University of Rhode Island on
ways to recycle the plastic ever-present in the Ghanaian landscape. We spent the next few days at Kathryn Roe’s
house near Cape Coast. Kathryn has a
program to provide scholarships to poor students who pass their high school
exams but otherwise would not be able to continue their education. It was a very comfortable house and we hardly
noticed the 12-hour loss of electricity.

A very nice lunch place in Takoradi with long-time friend Gifty.

Some of us did the Canopy Walk in Kakum
National Forest, toured the Cape Coast Castle and “petted” the crocodiles at
Han’s Botel. And we were able to walk
through the little village where Kathryn lives, Mpeasem.

Children, children. Ghana's population is young! Ghana now provides tuition-free education through junior high school, but it's a challenge for many parents to provide the uniforms, etc. and the schools are crowded. But the difference is striking from our first visit, nine years ago.

The people were friendly and children followed
us everywhere. We bought bananas and
took pictures. It is dirt and huts,
chickens and goats, and seemingly a lot of family warmth and play.

We spent two days in Accra, taking in some
key sights - Osu to shop, Kwame Nkrumah’s tomb and museum, a workshop for
coffins in shapes related to the dead person’s activities (a truck, a pineapple,
a camera) and the Makola market. We
walked to the Cultural Arts Center and saw how much of the craft work is
actually done. We had dinner with Frank
Cudjoe and his family – Anita and children Sue and Leif. And we stayed at the Afia Hotel, which is
charming, but has a tremendous amount of trash on the beach.

Yes, these are coffins---made after the interests of the family member who has died and will be laid to rest in them. One of Ghana's interesting traditions!

Another coffin. No doubt the family member had a love of photography and cameras! He or she will be buried in this coffin, which probably closely matches the actual camera owned by the deceased.

We recommend the Afia Hotel in Accra as a great place to stay. But, this beach, near the hotel, highlights the huge challenge Ghana faces with keeping trash off the beaches and struggling with sanitation generally.

The trip was wonderful. We spent a lot of time working hard and interacting
with high school students, and were able to relax and enjoy some amazing places.

Our all-time favorite photo, taken by Susan Hirst, photographer extraordinaire! The three children are "students" at the Anglican Creche. We LOVE the hairdo!!!

So much pure fun with wonderful friends. We are grateful, especially for the wonderful care given us by the staffs of the various hotels, the many drivers who transported us safely---esp. Quamie Annan, to Kathryn Roe for her hospitality in Cape Coast, and to the friendly, welcoming people of Ghana!

Oct 14, 2015

Recently, you’ve been reading News Updates about toilets,
building renovations, and scholarships in Axim, Ghana. This News Update breaks some new ground!

Four of us have just returned from a trip to Ghana: Maryanne
Ward, the head of Ghana Together (GT) who travels to Ghana every year; Susan
Hirst, GT supporter who has taught science, been a middle school counselor, and
was an AIDS educator on three former trips to Axim; Louise Wilkinson, a board
member of GT and retired educator from Boeing who has extensive experience
working with adult groups on leadership and cultural diversity and who traveled
to Ghana twice with her husband, Tom; and Louise’s 18 year-old granddaughter,
Alexis Coats. Alexis just graduated from High School in Vancouver, WA, and is
headed for a nursing career.

The three adult women are original “founding mothers” of
Ghana Together and have been involved in Axim one way or another for almost
nine years.

The purpose of this journey was to work with Ghanaian
youth on personal leadership. We had floated the idea for several months among
the Head Mistress and teachers of the Axim Girls Senior High School (AGSHS), and
to the Director of the Axim Community Vocational Technical Institute (CDVTI) where
they teach dress-making, cooking, hair-dressing, electrical work and auto
mechanics as well as some academic and entrepreneurial skills.

Louise and Madame Safiatu Seidu, Director of the Community Development Vocational and Technical Institute in Axim, Ghana. They are planning the Leadership Workshop for the coming week.

We also proposed the idea to Kathryn Roe of Cape Coast
and Bellingham, WA. Kathryn is the Founder and Director of Anansi Education,
which provides scholarships to enable good but impoverished students to attend
high school in Cape Coast.

All of these leaders responded with a lot of interest so we
developed a curriculum and began scheduling several months in advance of the
visit. The Ghanaian school administrators suggested we give the Leadership
Workshop the first two weeks of the new term, because we would be working with
Form 3 (senior) students. The Workshop would be the perfect orientation,
launching them into their last year of senior high school with some new skills
to figure out their futures.

And so, after considerable planning, we bravely embarked!
We were confident! We had all the bases covered for presentations on Leadership
Skills to Ghanaian high school students. Of course, it would go smoothly. After
all, Louise is a specialist in leadership and multicultural understanding, Susan
in junior and senior high students, and Lexy, in being a real teenager! What could possibly go wrong??

The Axim Girls Senior High School (AGSHS) building---newly opened during the first days we were there

HA! We had forgotten to take into consideration that we
were in Ghana!

Little did we or they know that a changed Ghana Education
Service policy required the AGSHS girls who were boarding at the Heritage
Building to move out, pronto, never
mind they had just arrived on campus hours before!

Computer/science/administrative/teachers’ rooms became
instant “dormitories” more or less in one day. Mattresses strewn on the lawn. Bunk
beds crammed into rooms. Teachers and students carrying desks, tables, chairs, contents
of administrative offices, computers, science materials to a newly-opened
classroom building.

Mattresses on the grass. The "boarding" students had to move quickly with their meagre possessions---a mattress, sheet, two uniforms, probably one other outfit, personal items...

The school’s electrician, whose Nzema name actually
translates as “God the Father” (comforting thought!), had to bravely install
the solar panels on the roof of the new two-story classroom building to keep
the Internet-In-a-Box and computer lab running, and that only with help with a
specialist from Toronto via the shaky internet connection!

Lacking their hastily vacated teacher’s room, which was
suddenly filled with bunkbeds, mattresses, and the small bags of personal
belongings, teachers were simply sitting in chairs under a tree putting
together the new academic year as best they could!

On top of that, there were two national holidays during
our two-week window---Kwame Nkrumah’s birthday, and a Muslim Holy Day---that had
not been factored in.

But this is Ghana, where everyone somehow manages to cope
with grace and dignity, no matter how trying the circumstances.

Headmistress Theodora Appiah, keeping her cool (and
demonstrating “leadership under pressure” beautifully!), continued stoically
working from her makeshift “office” in one of the classrooms, trying her best
to keep some semblance of order and hospitality for her foreign guests.

The "ever-cheerful-no-matter-what" Madame Theodora Appiah, Headmistress of AGSHS. Her motto is: "I would rather try and fail, then not try at all." An example of leadership right there in front of her students.

Teacher Jerry Kwofie managed to pull together the rather
frazzled students, who, of course, having just arrived on campus hours before
after a month’s vacation, had no idea that they were going to be the first-ever
participants in Leadership Training in the entire Nzema East District!

And yes! We DID manage to conduct three wonderful workshops in
Axim, and another in Cape Coast, with about 100 students total, mostly in groups
of around 25.

One of the groups received six hours of class time. Others
had four or five hours, and one group had two hours. Not quite as planned; however,
we felt that all the groups appreciated the information and learned something
from the presentations.

Leadership Workshop participants at the Axim Girls Senior High School

Louise led the discussions, as Susan chimed in and Alexis
wrote information on the board and provided real life examples. We started out
asking students to name good leaders. They named political figures, local
headmistresses, and their local tribal chief. Kwame Nkrumah, the first
President of Ghana, was on every list. These leaders all had positions of
power. We asked students to list what things made these people “good” leaders
and they came up with lists of characteristics befitting these famous leaders.

Louise working with AGSHS girls in a small group

We then asked them to list people in their lives who had
influenced and helped them. Parents, siblings, and friends made this list, and
these were people without fame or titles who were able to influence others. We
pointed out that each student there was a leader because they could use their
“leadership” qualities to have influence over themselves and others. We asked
them to look at the list of good qualities and think of which qualities they
now had and which they would like to get. Alexis said that she was very shy and
it was hard to speak in front of a group, so she was using these classes to
work on confidence. The students were very impressed with her honesty.

We divided the students into small groups, gave each
group a different situation, and asked the groups to report out on what they
would do in this situation. For example, one group had to decide what, as
leaders, they would do if “You see a friend of yours stealing a computer from
the school computer lab.” Another group was challenged with “A younger girl you
know starts going home with an older man.” The students really worked on these
situations and gave great reports.

Susan Hirst working with students at AGSHS

As we worked through the program, Louise introduced the
themes of trust, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence, using words and
examples that the students could understand. These were presented as leadership
skills that provide the foundation for creating good relationships and making
good choices, for themselves and others.

Group work followed and the students were again given a
variety of situations which related to their larger community: “An oil company
opens an office in town. They bring workers from their country. You ask why
they don’t hire local people. You are told the local people are not adequately
educated and are not reliable or prompt. What would you as a leader do?”

And: “Women cut up fish on the beach. The beach is dirty and some people get sick from the fish. You ask why the beach has to be dirty. People say there is nowhere else to go to the toilet. What would you as a leader do?” Again the students really worked together and gave great reports about how they would deal with these problems as leaders in the community.

AGSHS students. These young woman are probably among the first in their families, and in fact in Ghana itself, to attain a senior high school education. Ghana generally, and Axim specifically, especially through the leadership of Chief Awulae Attibrukusi, has put major emphasis on "girl education." One of the Chief's common sayings is, "Educate a woman. Educate a family."

At the end of each class, students were encouraged to
review and affirm their learning by saying together, “I am a leader, I am a
leader of myself, I am a leader of others, I am a good leader…..” adding more
qualities and ending with “I am a leader!” There was wonderful energy as the
students left the room and then waited outside to take pictures of us, and
especially of themselves with Alexis.

Lexy Coats assisting her Grandmother Louise by capturing concepts on the board. The students had personal notebooks in which to capture the concepts for themselves. Lexy had the opportunity to make friends among her peers in Ghana---we wish every American teenager could have such an experience!

Adults sat in on some of the courses, helping us
communicate well with the students and providing us perspective on how they
might be receiving the learning. One adult suggested that we include religion
more clearly in the curriculum, noting that prayer is used more than choice
when making good decisions. Another said the group exercises were very
powerful, enabling students to apply what they had learned. Another, James
Kainyiah, told the group that they were very fortunate to have had this
leadership learning so early in their lives, and that he wishes he had had this
advantage. We felt we had given them some very useful information and, as usual,
learned even more from them.

We are working on getting feedback from the students (and
adults). These types of class activities---using groups, personal stories,
open-ended real-life situations, open discussion, role-playing---are new to
them. We’d not only like to know how the classes affected the students, but how
they can help us improve! After all, the Municipal Chief Executive (Mayor) of
Axim has requested the workshop for his staff! Who knows…???

The Workshop leaders with some of the AGSHS workshop participants.

The Leadership Class at the Community Vocational Institute. This class included young men learning such trades as electrician and auto mechanics.

Maryanne’s role was basically logistical---seeing to introductions,
lodging, meals, taxis, classroom space, etc. She also reviewed a number of Ghana Together projects,
including checking up on students on scholarship with Ghana Together, working
with the library, computer and science lab people, including delivering a
complete half-size human skeleton, visiting old friends in the community and,
we understand, giving a very graphic demonstration on how to use the new toilet
that had been installed.

A half-size human skeleton (plastic) given to the AGSHS Science Lab, courtesy of the one and only Jerome Chandler, and somehow carried all the way to Africa by Maryanne. And thank you Ghana Customs for having the sense not to look too closely! And there we are...what we do for science!!

We are grateful to have had this opportunity. We thank
our Ghanaian hosts for their welcome, and for encouraging their students to
participate wholeheartedly. We hope the Workshop made a positive impact on
their lives. Thank you!

For more information, go to http://ghanatogether.org

To contact us, email info@ghanatogether.org

We are a US-based 501(c3) nonprofit, Fed EIN 26-2182965

We appreciate donations of any size, by check or by PayPal link from our website